I Just Won't Play by the Book - Chapter 266
266 Resisting the Sect
“Long live our emperor!”
In the imperial court, the officials knelt before Jiang Beiran and shouted.
“Rise.”
Hearing the Emperor’s voice, the officials slowly stood up and looked at the Emperor. With this look, many sharp-eyed officials were stunned.
“Eldest Princess (Princess Ming Yue)?”
!!
Blinking their eyes hard, they looked several times before confirming that they were not mistaken. The person standing behind the Emperor was the Eldest Princess of the previous dynasty!
“Why is the eldest princess here?” How did the Eldest Princess become a palace maid? Why did the Emperor bring her to court?’These questions caused the ministers to let their imaginations run wild, but on the surface, they all stood straight and did not look sideways. They did not look shocked at all.
When the entire court was filled with loyal and patriotic officials, the Supreme Council became unusually lively. After all, loyal officials were stubborn. Even in front of the emperor, they dared to remonstrate with anything, and they would always remonstrate with him.
As for the things that the ministers advised him to do, as long as the options did not jump, Jiang Beiran would basically reply,” We’ll do as my beloved minister says.”””Thank you for your hard work, dear minister.” “My dear minister, you did a good job.”
After all, as the emperor, what he had to do was to hand all kinds of troubles to capable people to handle, not to let him do everything.
Therefore, now that he had a group of trustworthy ministers, what Jiang Beiran needed to do was to listen to the progress of the matter and praise some ministers who had outstanding achievements.
” Your Majesty, the order to pacify the people in the county has been implemented. All the local governments have put up notices. I believe that the people who have been exiled will return soon.”
Jiang Beiran was about to praise him when two options popped up.
[Option 1:”Thank you for your hard work, dear minister” Completion Reward: Chain Armor Pill Codex (Black Grade High Rank)]
[Choice 2:” Oh? Wu Ling County? Is what you said true?” [Completion Reward: Random Basic Skill Point +1]
Looking at the second option, Jiang Beiran recalled that he had once been to Wu Ling County. It was a place where corrupt officials ran amok, and there were all kinds of temples everywhere. There were more than 800 ancestral halls built for the King of Jin Yang, Liu Yue.
In the Sheng Kingdom, there were many different kinds of kings with different surnames. Moreover, many of these kings were not conferred by the Emperor, but by the nepotism of many righteous sects.
For example, a child from an ordinary family was discovered to have cultivation talent and went to a sect. Later on, this child relied on his outstanding talent to advance all the way in the sect and become a middle-level leader in the sect.
At this time, he would definitely seek benefits for his family.
Cultivators looked down on the imperial court, but as the commoners at the bottom, they were still very willing to become officials. The sect naturally would not reject the small request of such a rookie.
‘Your father wants to be an official? What’s the point of just being an official? Just give him the title of king.’
Why would a righteous sect that didn’t even care about the emperor care about a king? With just a simple process, there were many times when a new king would appear in a certain place without the emperor knowing.
Why did the officials of Wu Ling County build so many ancestral halls for Lin Yue, the King of Jin Yang? Was it respect for King Jin Yang from the bottom of his heart? Of course not. The officials just wanted to exploit the people through frequent sacrifices.
After exploiting the wealth of these people, the officials would also take out a portion to show their respect to the King of Jin Yang. Then, after obtaining the tacit approval of the King of Jin Yang, they became even more unscrupulous. They casually piled up a few broken stones and dared to say that it was an ancestral hall. Then, they asked the people to pay up. That was disrespecting the King of Jin Yang. The crime of great disrespect was to kill!
After recalling the Wuling County, Jiang BeiRan chose the second option and asked,”Oh? Wu Ling County? Is what you said true?”
[Mission completed. Reward: Forging +1]
The official was stunned when he heard that. The Emperor had clearly given him an affirmative sentence just now, so how did it become a question?
This made him understand that the emperor was not asking blindly, so he quickly knelt down and said,”I deserve to die.”
Jiang Beiran frowned.” You only have enough time to die once,” he said.” Tell me, what happened in Wu Ling County?””
The official did not even dare to raise his head and replied,””The officials of the Wu Ling County, relying on the protection of King Jin Yang, have ignored the imperial court. In recent years, they have rarely followed the orders issued by the imperial court.”
“Then why did you hide this matter just now?”Jiang Beiran asked in a serious tone.
The official kneeling on the ground was silent for a long time. Finally, he answered as if he had made a decision,”” Your Majesty, there are too many sects and forces involved in the Wu Ling County. I am worried…”
“Are you worried that not only will I not be able to control them, but I will also be harmed by them?”
Hearing the Emperor’s calm tone, the official couldn’t help but tremble.
Seeing that the official did not reply, Jiang Beiran knew that he had guessed correctly. However, the reason why such an official who was afraid of evil forces was not expelled by the system was probably to lure out the Wu Ling County.
After tapping his fingers on the table for a while, Jiang Beiran said,””Do you know what crime you have committed?”
The official below immediately trembled even more violently.” Your Majesty, this lowly subject is sincere only because…”
“Zhen is asking what crime you have committed!”
Hearing the Emperor’s tone increase, the official who felt his entire body tremble replied with a trembling voice,”Wei…What I have committed is deception…The crime of deceiving the sovereign.
“Very good.” Jiang Beiran nodded, then swept his gaze over the other ministers and said,””Is there anyone else like Vice Minister Ning who hid it for the good of the court and for the good of me?”
